Coronavirus emergency and transition between the programming periods of the Structural Funds and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) – 2014-2020 and 2021-2027

Subject: Coronavirus emergency and transition between the programming periods of the Structural Funds and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) – 2014-2020 and 2021-2027

The economic and social repercussions of the new coronavirus emergency will coincide in full with the transition period between the multiannual programming of the ESI funds for 2014-2020 and 2021- 2027.

Cohesion policy is very important in order to relaunch investment and to support economic recovery with resources that are made directly available to the national, regional and local authorities and small and medium-sized companies.

At this stage it is also very important to ensure a constant flow of available funding.

That said, what specific measures does the Commission intend to take in order to help national, regional and local government departments handle, as best they can, the transition between the two multiannual programming periods and thus avoid potential delays? As the Commission will be aware, this transition, by definition, involves a lengthy reframing of priorities, together with transition and learning costs and, given the exceptional circumstances, normal reprogramming activity will also overlap with the management of funding for the special COVID emergency response projects.

Answer given by Mr Hahn on behalf of the European Commission

(13 August 2020)

The Commission proposed the Next Generation EU instrument and a revamped Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021- 2027 (1). Various proposed measures will help Member States transition between the two MFFs.

The proposed REACT-EU (2) would provide additional funding in 2020-2022 for the current cohesion programmes; the exceptional flexibility introduced by the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (3) applies.

The European Council conclusions of 21 July 2020 foresee that relevant actions starting from 1 February 2020 onwards should be eligible under REACT-EU.

The 2021-2027 cohesion policy proposals remain substantially unchanged. The 2018 Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) proposal (4) includes a series of simplification provisions that will help a rapid start to the new period. The latest CPR proposa l (5) complements these measures by lowering the threshold for projects that can be phased over two programming periods (6).

It is essential to launch the new cohesion policy programmes on 1 January 2021 in parallel with REACT-EU.

To ensure that Member States can quickly adjust measures, the REACT-EU Regulation sets out specific provisions for the scope of technical assistance.

The Commission proposed increased funding for the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund under its new MFF 2021-2027 proposal. The EAFRD is proposed to be further reinforced under Next Generation EU.

The Commission proposed transitional rules for the common agricultural policy (CAP) in 2019 (7) in view of the state of play of negotiations on the new CAP Strategic Plans, which are experiencing delays compared to the negotiations on other proposals.

⋅1∙ The relevant legislative proposals are available on the Commission’s website: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/mff-legislation_en.

The final programmes, their structure and budgetary envelopes are subject to the outcome of the discussions between the European Parliament and the Council on the elements of the recovery package, in accordance with the respective adoption procedure (in particular the Own Resources Decision, the MFF Regulation, the Interinstitutional Agreement, and sectoral legislation).

⋅2∙ Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe.

COM/2020/451 final.

⋅3∙ OJ L 99, 31.3.2020, p. 5‐8.

⋅4∙ COM(2018) 375 final.

⋅5∙ COM((2020) 450 final.

⋅6∙ From EUR 10 million to EUR 5 million.

⋅7∙ COM(2019) 581 final.